The Sixers got an early Christmas gift when the Orlando Magic executed two trades that left them shorthanded, with just 8 players in uniform for their match up with the Sixers in Orlando. Despite their best efforts to slow things down and feed Dwight Howard as much as possible, the Magic couldn't quite stay with the Sixers who did a good job swarming Howard time and time again. Offensively, Andre Iguodala put up 21 and 7 assists, Elton Brand had 20 and 13 rebounds, and Lou Williams was huge off the bench with 24, mostly from the free throw line, and 6 rebounds. Defensively, the Sixers were close to outstanding once again, holding Orlando to just 41% shooting from the field and 20% shooting from beyond, while racking up 6 blocks and 11 steals.
The first half was tight as Howard dominated underneath and Orlando went up by 1 at the end of the 1st quarter. In the 2nd the quarter the Sixers rebounded and found their scoring touch enough to take a 1 point halftime lead. In the 3rd quarter the lack of players finally seemed to catch up to Orlando as the Sixers pulled out to a 7 point lead heading into the 4th quarter. The Sixers then began to dominate for a while in the 4th, pulling out to a 15 point lead at one point before a couple late threes by the Magic briefly cut the lead to 6. The Sixers made their free throws down the stretch and eventually won fairly easily by 8, 97-89.
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